DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

This recipe comes from www.happyhomefairy.com .  Who doesn't like a new hot chocolate recipe.  On a cold day, there is nothing better on a cold night! Snow Cocoa This is one of my FAVORITE drinks to make during the winter time! EVERYONE goes nuts over it! In fact, our women’s ministry at church just did a big Christmas event and we served this delicious-ness and so many people have asked for the recipe I figured I’d better blog about it! But, I have to tell you. I am so bad at remembering to take pictures. I even made this drink the other night for our Christmas caroling outing and I forgot to snap a shot of it. So I borrowed this pic of Hot White Chocolate Cocoa from The Food Channel – just so you could get a little visual. If you click the picture, it will take you to their recipe for Hot White Chocolate Cocoa. My recipe is different – and I love that it’s called Snow Cocoa. Very fitting for this time of year! Snow Cocoa Ingredients - 2 cups whipping...

    A Ghost Town is a place that no longer exists. For some reason, and many times unexplained reasons, the people of the town leave and never return. The town is left to rot and be forgotten. But, a lot of these places allow you t come and visit, to step on the land that is no longer wanted, and to learn the mysteries behind their disappearances. Here is a list of some of the best Ghost Towns in the United States. Roanoke Island, North Carolina     The Lost Colony. Everyone knows that the first settlers in the new world created colonies in Jamestown and Plymouth, but there was also a colony on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. History tells of a woman, named Virginia Dare, who settled there with her family. Sir Walter Raleigh had led ships there. It would be the first settlement on American soil, but it was short lived.     That's because everyone disappeared!     To this day, scientists and historians have given...

     The Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese fest on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5th of the Gregorian calendar. Astronomically, it is also a solar term. The Qingming festival falls on the first day of the fifth solar term, named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (Taqing, "treading on the greenery") and tend to the graves of departed loved ones.     Qingming has been regularly observed as a statutory public holiday in Taiwan and in the Chinese jurisdictions of Hong Kong and Macau. Its observance was reinstated as a public holiday in mainland China in 2008, after having been previous suppressed by the ruling Communist Party in 1949.     The holiday is known by a number of names in the English language: All Souls Day (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic holiday, All S...

    It's unbelievable at the number of names witches are called from different countries and at different centuries in our history. Plus let me not forget the types of "witchcraft" each one may practice compared to another one. Good or bad witch, male or female and even what kind of heritage you come from. So here's a list of the different ones, all in alphabetical order. Alexandrian - This tradition was begun in the 1960's by Alex Sanders. Alex Sanders lived in England. He used what are known to be slightly changed Gardnarian traditions and calls himself the "King of Witches." Covens involve both men and women. British Traditional -This is, according to Silver RavenWolf a "mix of Celtic and Gardnarian beliefs." Covens involve both men and women. One can study a course and receive a degree in British Traditional Witchcraft. Celtic Wicca -Celtic Wicca focuses mainly on Celtic and Druidic gods and goddesses (along with a few o...

   This recipe comes from smittenkitchen .  Who doesn't love/like chocolate pudding, my teenage kids love the stuff. Good luck and happy eating! More often than not, after such an evening I find myself too full for even a nightcap, quite tired and, while we are being honest, like I need to spend an hour on the treadmill. And I hate the treadmill. But chocolate pudding is none of these things. The perfect recipe–the one I sifted through dozens and dozens to find–would be chocolaty but not overly heavy, indulgent but not too rich. In short, the kind of thing you’d want to eat with the love of your life without the risk of shortening the length of it. As a bonus, it would be a reasonable recipe to tackle on a weekday night. This turned out to be a surprisingly complicated feat. You see, chocolate pudding has lost its way. Over the years, as chocolate desserts have gotten more and more decadent, so-called “puddings” have followed suit. Sudde...

    The Takayama Festivals in Takayama, Japan, started in the 16th to 17th century. The origins of the festivals are unknown; however they are believed to have been started during the rule of the Kanamori family . Correspondence dated 1692, place the origin to 40 years prior to that date. One of the festivals is held on the 14th and 15th of April and the other on the 9th ad 10th of October.     The Spring Takayama Festival is centered on the Hie Shrine . The shrine is also known as the Sanno Shrine , and the spring festival is also known as the Sanno Festival. The Sanno Festival is held to pray for a good harvest and the Autumn Festival is for giving thanks.     The Autumn festival is centered on the Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine and is referred to as the Hachiman Festival . It is held after the crops are harvested. The fall festival is one of the three largest festivals in Japan. The other two are Kyoto's Gion Matsu...

   This  diy comes from www.dollarstorecrafts.com .  These look quite cool.  They can be used all year round.  Enjoy! Dollar Barn DIY: Robin’s Egg Vase Morning, everyone! Your very own crazy crafter, Jess from Mad in Crafts, here. Are you cheap? I am. I have a little panic attack anytime I see a price tag in the triple digits. Do you like pretty things? I do. When my house is clean and decorated, sometime I just sit and look around at it all. Partly because I know it will be many moons until it's actually clean again. Anyway, because of my remarkable cheapness and love of pretties, you can imagine the internal torment that overtakes me when I visit the Pottery Barn website. ((shudder)) A few months back I wrote a couple of posts called A Dollar Barn Christmas where I took items I found at my local Dollar Tree and turned them into home decor that was inspired by all the goodies at Pottery Barn. I was browsing on the PB website a few we...